deceit - sirius black

twenty

August, 1965

Sadie Wraith loved the summer. The ten-year-old would dance around her room with the curtains apart and the windows flung open, skip around the garden with a bunch of flowers in her hand, ride her broomstick around the local park of their secluded neighbourhood. She could make friends with just about anyone, her little smile enough to fool both children and adults, if that were her wish.

Sadie also loved the summer because it meant that everybody in her family was at home. Her older brother, Samuel, had begun attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the September prior, and while she still had her younger siblings around, Sadie had missed all four of them eating together each evening.

Upon his return to their home, Sam had revealed himself to be a little too proud. He didn't want to play 'silly games' with his brother and sisters anymore, and it seemed all he could do around the house was compare it to Hogwarts. Sadie desperately hoped that she would not be so imperious when she started her first year, in the September after next.

One particular day, Sadie heard loud voices coming from the bedroom of her youngest sibling, Sabrina, who had always looked up to Sam, who, it sounded like, was the second voice in the room. Sadie made her way to Sabrina's bedroom, where the girl herself was silent, listening to Sam shout.

"Just stay out of my way, Sabrina!" he finished, only now becoming aware that Sadie, along with his eight-year-old brother, Seth, were standing at the door.

"What's going on?" Sadie asked calmly, in a careful attempt to not raise the tension.

"Sabrina doesn't understand that I have homework to do," Sam said condescendingly, "She can't keep out of my room, so I'm explaining to her that I have more important things to do than to look at her silly drawings."

"You can't have that much homework," Seth said, "It's summer."

"This is what I mean!" Sam exclaimed, "Once you lot go to Hogwarts, you'll learn that it's not a joke."

"Couldn't you spare her a few minutes of your time?" Sadie offered, glancing at the five-year-old, who was sitting on her bed with her head down and clutching her drawing in her small hands.

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Sam spat, and walked over to Sabrina, taking the drawing from her, "Look! It's the same stupid drawing she always does!"

Sabrina often drew the same picture of the four of them together, standing in age order. In this one, unlike most of the past ones, Sam was wearing a Slytherin tie. She had drawn it specially for him, and as she'd always looked up to him she had wanted to show him. Sitting on her bed, she was almost in tears at his displeasure.

Sam dropped the picture on the floor, and left to go to his own room. Seth walked over to comfort Sabrina, while Sadie followed Sam down the hall and grabbed him by the arm.

"Sam, don't be so mean to her. She only wanted to show you because she looks up to you. She missed you loads while you were at Hogwarts."

"That doesn't mean she can interrupt my studies to show me the same picture she always draws. Sades, once you get to Hogwarts, you'll be sick of being badgered by little kids, too."

"She's our sister," Sadie scoffed, "She's not just a 'little kid'. You can be a real arse, sometimes, Sam."

And with that, she walked to her own bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

***

(Present day, 1976)

Sam Wraith hadn't been living with his girlfriend for too long, and due to her job and her love for her family, she was away a lot. So, for the first time in a long time, the couple were sitting down for a meal together. Sam had cooked steak, which he was rather proud of considering there was a time, before his parents were killed, that he could hardly make toast without burning it.

Sabrina's absence was explained to Anna in a similar way to how Sabrina had initially told her other siblings: Sam told her that they had had an argument and had decided it would be best for Sabrina to move out. Truthfully, Sam had merely made the assumption that she had moved out, considering she hadn't returned since their 'incident'. As far as Anna was aware, she was staying with a friend.

He served the meal, and Anna was also impressed to find that he had cooked it correctly: they were around five minutes into their meal and conversation when there was a loud banging on the front door. They shared a confused glance at who could be knocking so aggressively in the early evening, and at the repeat of the knock, Sam went to answer the door.

His surprise at seeing the eldest of his sisters on his doorstep was quite understandable: he unlocked the door and opened it, barely able to open his mouth before she started talking.

"Do you enjoy hitting children, Samuel?"

"What?" Sam was too shocked at her abrasiveness to connect the dots.

"Sabrina showed up at my house today," she continued, her anger evident in her expression, "And after we got past some lie about a 'mutual agreement', she told me you hit her."

"Sam?" Anna had heard the shouting from across the house, and was now peering around the doorway from the kitchen, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, is this your next victim?" Sadie let herself into the house, taking him further by surprise, "Another woman for you to hit?"

"Sadie, I'd really like it if we could talk about this outside." Sam muttered.

"Yeah? I'd really like it if you could not hit my little sister."

"Look, we were arguing, and it got out of hand-"

"That's not a fucking excuse!" she spat through gritted teeth, "You're lucky she doesn't want to take you to court. I bet that'd go down well with your little Ministry colleagues."

"You know, you're just as entitled as I remember," he sneered, "You can't talk to me like this in my own house."

"Getting angry, are we, Samuel? What, are you gonna hit me, too?"

"Sam, what's she talking about?" Objectively, Anna was a very lovely woman: she didn't like Sam's involvement with the Dark Lord, but she loved him regardless and was nothing but kind to him, and to Sabrina. It was likely that Sadie would get on great with her was she not going out with Sam, but in this moment, Anna filled her with rage.

"Your boyfriend is a complete arse who can only win arguments through violence," Sadie said, "Lovely to meet you, by the way, I'll be expecting an invite to the wedding."

"Sam?" Anna looked to him for confirmation.

"Anna, meet my lovely sister," Sam grimaced, "Look, Sadie, I feel bad about hitting Sabrina, honestly. I know it was wrong, and if I could take it back, I would. But there's nothing anyone can do about it now, so-"

"I can think of a few things I could do about it," Sadie interrupted, "On top of taking you to court and kicking your arse."

"Tell Sabrina I'm sorry," Sam tried to remain calm, aware that he was moments away from repeating what had happened with Sabrina, "I'm glad she's living with you. I hope you're all well."

Sam had thought he didn't care about Sadie and Seth; it was only that night, when he'd seen Sadie in person that he realised he missed his family. Perhaps he had gone down the wrong path, but in all honesty he didn't want to meet the same fate his parents had. Sabrina had been right: he was a coward.

"You're a joke, Sam." Sadie scoffed, and walked out of the house with purpose, slamming the door behind her hard enough to knock a painting off the wall. She'd be happy if she never saw her brother again.